Galaxy Eater
by Zidia
Summary: Eden Shepard, believed to have died at the end of the Reaper War, has returned to a galaxy at the edge of chaos. But her return is overshadowed by a new threat. A threat so dangerous, if the galaxy cannot once more unite, will destroy not only the galaxy, but reality itself.
1. Chapter 1: The Blue Box

_Author's Note: this story follows_ For This _. If you haven't read that, please do before continuing. While it isn't_ necessary _to follow the story, it does fill in some gaps._

 _Yes, I didn't originally plan on making a sequel. But thanks to a lot of support, I've gotten things started._

 _So, without further ado: Galaxy Eater. Let me know what you think!_

-=)o(=-

Something else exploded.

Commander Ashley Williams ducked as a burning crate flew over her head. "How many grenades does he have?" she complained. "Hell, how many has he used?"

"I count twenty four," EDI replied calmly. "Considering he supplies Cerberus with weapons, it is unsurprising he has so many on hand."

"The idea was to take him out before he had a chance to break into those weapons supplies," Ashley reminded her.

"Well that worked out real well," Garrus said sarcastically. "I'm starting to wonder who will run out of amunition first: him or us?"

There was a thump behind them. "I'm thinking him," James said. Ashley turned to see him kneeling next to a crate, holding up a heat sink. "The room we just cleared is full of them," he explained.

"Good work, lieutenant," Ashley said, grabbing a handful for quick reload.

Something else exploded.

"Twenty five," EDI said, keeping tally.

"Vega, see if you can find any crates full of grenades," Ashley said, gritting her teeth at the shrill 'you'll never take me alive!' from somewhere above them. "This had better be a good distraction," Ashley muttered.

The room shook slightly. "I wonder how much this'll cut into his profits?" Kasumi wondered aloud, busy cracking his secure files. And his vault while she was at it. Why let such a good opportunity go to waste?

"Not enough to put him out of business," Miranda replied, doing her own hacking. Kasumi liked her style. Steal his information, then leave proxies in the system to pick up any new developments. It was exactly what she'd done with that one pirate leader...the one with the funny mustache.

Of course, in Kasumi's case, it had been so she could keep stealing his income and supplies, not find underground Cerberus bases. But that was besides the point.

From time to time she glanced out the window to see how the others were faring. One-way glass was so useful. If Mr-I'm-the-best-armsdealer-you'll-ever-get-off-Omega-Yvanstra decided to retreat to his office, they'd have an issue. Of course, that would mean leaving all his boxes of grenades behind-how many was that? Twelve now?-and exposing himself to several dozen bullets. He wasn't likely to do that.

There was a chime from her omni-tool, and Kasumi glanced back. "Have you got the files?" Miranda asked.

"Better than that," Kasumi responded. "I've also got his vault."

All things considered-grenades, Miranda and Kasumi obviously taking their sweet old time, and the armsdealer screaming profanities that would make a krogan blush aside, things had been going fine. James had even found a box of grenades, and EDI had located a beautiful spot to throw one (who would have thought he'd keep such a supply of explosives all in one area?). All in all, things had seemed to be going pretty well.

...That is, until a strange drone started cycling through the air, and not far in front of them, something blue started to appear, phasing in and out.

"...EDI?" Ashley began.

"If I didn't know my sensors were incapable of lying, I would not believe what I see," EDI replied, sounding stunned. "A ship is literally appearing in front of us...and it's massive."

"Uhh...that doesn't look that big to me," James commented. Even their illustrious armsdealer had fallen silent.

"That is one of the anomalies I am recording," EDI stated. "It is incredibly large, yet it takes up only the space that you see."

"Could you try explaining that-" Ashley began, but at that moment, the doors flew open, and three figures came running out, sparks flying behind them.

"Is that..." Garrus began.

"Yep." Ashley replied.

"And..."

"Yep."

Now while the identity of the third person remained unknown to Ashley, she certainly knew the other two. In fact, as far as she knew, one of those people was dead.

"Now someone mind explaining to me what that was all about?" Wrex grumbled, glaring at the other two.

Eden Shepard-again, how in the name of sanity was she here?-raised her hands in an attempt to placate the angry krogan. "We were trying to close the relay before it could come through-" she began.

"Well that was obvious enough," Wrex interrupted. "I'm more intrested in how you got there. Or how you're here at all, Shepard."

"I already explained that! My clone died, saving the galaxy, and I ended up spending the last few months working with the Doctor."

"Three years!"

Eden blinked. "It couldn't possibly...Doctor?"

The third figure, who'd dared a glance back into the...ship-thing turned back. "Well, I suppose it is possible. It's not like I set the course or anything. The Tardis could have gone to any time at all, and you know she'll set her course to-no wait, you wouldn't know that, I told her to be on her best behavior so...wait, then why did it happen in the first place...?" Catching Eden's glare, he cleared his throat. "Right. Wrong subject. It's a-a timey whimy thing."

"A what?"

"Nevermind that. Ashley interrupted. "Shepard, how are you here?"

"If she is Shepard," Garrus added.

Ashley nodded, "Right. We've dealt with one clone already. How do we know you're not another?"

"It is a probable hypothesis, considering Eden Shepard died on the Citadel at the end of the Reaper War," EDI added.

"I'm not a clone," the-possibly-Shepard said. "It was Ama-my clone that died on the Citadel...or actually, at the Crucible. The Doctor showed up...and it's really complicated."

Something else exploded. Right next to the...Tardis was it?

The third person-Doctor-waved his hand irritably. "Oi! That's my ship you're shooting at, and that's not very nice, for the record."

"You're tricks won't save you!" the armsdealer squeaked down at them. "I will destroy you all!"

"Who's the nutcase?" Eden asked, inclining her head upwards.

"Nevermind him," Ashley said, turning her attention back to the problem at hand. "Shepard's clone died on the Citadel, yes. But that was when she tried to steal the Normandy, which was long before the end of the war."

"Actually, she didn't die there!" The Doctor called from where he was inspecting his ship...and was he cooing? "She thought she was going to die there, but then she ended up dropping right into my Tardis," he said, turning back to the others, a very pleased expression on his face.

There was another nearby explosion. The Doctor jumped slightly and turned back. "Oi! I thought I told you to cut it out?"

"Now that's a likely story," James muttered sarcastically.

"In most cases, when a human is attempting to lie, they try for something more believable," EDI commented.

"He isn't human," the-maybe-Shepard said offhandedly. Then, realizing this wasn't helping her case, she quickly added, "but it's the truth nonetheless."

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Ashley growled. She needed something she could use to be sure...the mannerisms were all right, but maybe that could be taught...

She almost hit herself when she thought of the answer. Of course! The age-old test. "Tell me something only the real Shepard would know," she said slowly.

The-Shepard-wannabe raised an eyebrow, as if considering. Finally, she said, "You still owe me two million credits for not siccing Joker on you went you were drunk."

Ashley groaned. "It's Shepard all right." Seeing the expressions most of the others wore, she explained, "Only EDI, Shepard, and myself knew of that encounter."

Just then, Ashley's omni-tool chimed. "They've finished up. Time to get out of here," she said.

"Great!" The Doctor exclaimed. "And I've got the perfect escape route:" he gestured to his ship.

Which was still shooting sparks now and again.

"Uh, huh. I don't think so," Ashley responded slowly.

"We can't just leave it here," Shepard protested. "We don't want Timelord technology falling into the wrong hands.

...Right. I'll just pretend to understand that. "Look, I don't know how that ship-thing got here, but if you think we'll be able to fly it out of here safely...It's wood!"

"Actually, while it is a living substance, it is not any form of wood currently on record," EDI supplied helpfully. The ground shook nearby, causing everyone to duck down. "Twenty eight."

"Well, if it managed to get us from the Citadel to here in a few seconds, I'm willing to give it a shot," Wrex grumbled.

"We'll never fit!"

Eden grinned. "It's bigger on the inside."

Something else exploded.

"Twenty nine."

Ashley growled and made a last minute decision. "Alright, everybody on board. James, bring that crate with you-the one with all the grenades. I have a feeling we're going to need them."

-=)o(=-

 _As a warning: I intend to update this monthly, but I'm also working on a research paper, and that takes priority. I won't forget this story though (believe me, it won't let me), but if it starts getting a little late, I'm probably working on my paper._


	2. Chapter 2: Truth And Reconcili

_Author's Note:_ I'm sorry, I know I was supposed to do this last week, but I was neck deep in research. Good news, I should be able to start this first draft of the paper soon...barring no unseen circumstance (heh, heh).

Fun fact of the day: According to a 2010 survey done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, on average, people between the ages of 8 and 18 spent a little over seven and a half hours online daily. With multitasking, the number was nearly eleven hours.

-=)0(=-

They raced for the entrance, as another grenade flew overhead, this time exploding behind them. His aim is getting better, Ashley thought grimly. A spark jumped over her head as she dove into the Tardis.

She put out her hand, expecting to hit a wall, but she kept running for a few steps, before she managed to slow herself down. Others streamed past her, coming up short as well, stunned by the sudden change.

Bigger on the inside, indeed. Ashley thought, staring upwards at tall ceiling. Behind her, she could hear the Doctor race in, shouting insults back at the armsdealer.

Ashley was impressed. She wasn't sure how he'd managed to fit all those insults in the three seconds before another grenade was tossed, and he was forced to shut the door.

Not missing a beat, the Doctor raced back down towards the center consol, rubbing his hands together. "Right! Let's get you to your shuttle." He started flicking switches, pulling levers...and several things Ashley couldn't even begin to describe, all the while cooing...and he just call the ship sexy? And she'd thought Joker was bad!

She could hear James shift from behind her. "Uh...is he entirely...you know..."

"Not quite," Shepard murmured. "I think he called himself...a madman with a box."

The Doctor was either oblivious to their conversation, or simply ignoring it. A few seconds later, he flipped a few more switches, then marched to the doors and flung them open. "See? We're-"

He was interrupted by a biotic blast, sending him flying.

...Right. Ashley had forgot to mention that. "Miranda, stand down," she called, marching to the doors.

And it was really weird to be looking at the interior of the shuttle. This was starting to feel like one of those really odd dreams.

But there was another situation to worry about right now. Miranda still had her biotic corona still flaring around her, looking ready to blast the entire ship, if she felt like it. "What. The bloody. Hell?" she growled.

"It's difficult to explain," Ashley said. And you don't know the half of it. "Let's just say, we got a ride."

"...It's a tiny blue box."

"It's bigger on the inside," Ashley explained. She was sure she heard a snicker behind her. "Where's Kasumi?"

"Are you bringing stray clones home now?" Ashley turned to see Kasumi reappear inside the Tardis, slowly turning to look at the ship.

Aaand that's the part even more difficult to explain... "She's not a clone. It's Shepard."

"What?"

...Two minutes later...

The shuttle landed, and Ashley managed to walk out steady. "Uh...Commander? Why is there a dent in the Kodiak?"

"You really, really don't want to know, Joker." Ashley growled. Miranda was the next person out, her back straight, her eyes afire, just looking for another excuse to unleash her biotics. The others that followed came out very cautiously, not wanting to give her that excuse.

They probably didn't have to worry, as Miranda marched straight for the lift, not even looking back. Ashley turned to see EDI helping the Doctor off the shuttle, the latter rubbing his head and grimacing.

Back to work. "EDI, get him to Dr. Chakawas, have that looked at. James, stow those supplies. Kasumi, get that data to Liara and Miranda. Shepard, my office. Now." Maybe she'd finally get some answers. "Everyone else, dismissed."

Shepard was silent on their trip there, ignoring the stunned looks from the crew members that saw them. Ashley wasn't about to offer an explanation again. At least, not until she knew all the details.

Finally, she reached her office, barely waiting for the door to slide close before she whirled around. "I want answers. Now."

Shepard crossed her arms. "Where to begin?"

"How about the part where you're not dead?"

Eden sighed, letting her arms drop to her sides. "Everyone thinks I died on the Citadel, in the blast created by the Crucible. That's what all evidence points to. That's the way it was supposed to be." Her gaze shifted away from Ashley. "Truth was, I wasn't even there when it happened."

Ashley's eyebrow climbed, and she crossed her arms, leaning back. "What happened?"

Shepard started to pace, something Ashley knew she did when she was gathering her thoughts. "The Citadel wasn't the Catalyst, it was the AI the Leviathans made that created the Reapers. The whole damn thing was a test, to see if organics and synthetics could work together.

"When I got there, I was offered four choices: destroy everything with Reaper code, including EDI and the geth, control the Reapers, like the Illusive Man wanted, create a synthesis of organics and synthetics, or just stand back and let the cycle continue."

"That's bullshit. None of those are good solutions," Ashley said pointedly.

I know that, but I didn't exactly have the luxury of time," Eden growled, seeming more upset at herself than Ashley. "But in any case, I never made that decision. My clone did."

"...Right. The clone that died on the Citadel. No, wait. Sorry, this 'Doctor' saved her."

"I know it sounds crazy," Shepard admitted, halting her pacing and turning back to Ashley. "But considering we landed inside the shuttle a few minutes ago, it can't sound all that far fetched."

"I'll reserve judgement for now," Ashley finally said, motioning for Shepard to continue.

She obliged. "I blacked out sometime around the point my clone initiated the Synthesis wave. When I awoke, I was in the Tardis, and the Doctor was telling me that I had to live, because there was some danger coming...something worse than the Reapers."

"And only three years later you're warning us?"

"I wasn't three years for me!" Eden growled. "For me, it was just a few months. Months filled with every kind of trouble the galaxy could throw at me. Did you know the Roman Emperor was actually an insane alien who was harvesting humans in an attempt to create a weapon against the Reapers? Or that there are aliens out there called Daleks that are bend on exterminating everything else? No matter where we went, trouble followed. And when we went to the most remote corner of the galaxy, you know what we found there? A bunch of madmen who'd decided it was the perfect place to plot destroying the world!"

Ashley held up a hand. "I'm still working on believing that...ship can move almost instantaneously anywhere. That it can move through time? Nothing can do that!"

"Talk to the Doctor. Hell, talk to Wrex. You've seen the evidence yourself, Ash." Turning to face Ashley, Eden continued, "you've got all the evidence you need, Ash. Whatever happened to trust?"

"Trust?" Ashley asked with a bitter laugh. "Ask all the Alliance personnel who got assassinated by Cerberus about trust. Ask the Council, after one of their Spectres tried to assassinate them. Ask STG, after somehow Cerberus got their hands on the Collector's plague. The one from Omega. The one they kept so well hidden most of them didn't even know it was there. And while you're at it, ask the people on the Normandy, after several marines turned out to be Cerberus agents. You're asking for trust, Shepard? I'm pretty damn low in it right now."

The shock was evident on Shepard's face. "Damn, Ash. I'm sorry," she said quietly.

For a moment, Ashley felt a familiar tug. That now that Shepard was here, things would get fixed.

But that had been three years ago. Ashley had to fix things herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned away. "Dismissed, Shepard," she said quietly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Eden open her mouth...

Then shook her head. "Aye-aye, Commander." The door slide shut with a decisive sound, leaving Ashley to her own thoughts.

-=)0(=-

I've been asked a couple of times if Daleks are going to show up. I'm _pretty_ sure not...but with the Doctor involved, you never know *cue evil laugh*


	3. Chapter 3: An Incomprehensible Horror

_Sorry, no excuse. Note to self:_ _ **Do not wait until the last moment to**_ _ **start editing your work!**_

 _Yes, I did that._ Twice _._

 _Hope it was worth the wait! Sorry again._

 _Fun fact of the day: the age old debate, is instant messaging more like writing or speech? According to linguist Niomi S. Baron, based on a pilot study, and information on previous studies, IMing is closer to writing, with several things that resemble speech. The interesting part? Feminine IMs were the most like writing, while the masculine resembled speech far more._

Eden's mind whirled as she left Ashley's quarters. Three years. Three years, and so much had happened. After the destruction of their main base, Cerberus should have simply collapsed. They were leaderless, their resources had been scattered...hell, they'd been indoctrinated. It didn't seem possible that they'd be able to return in such strength.

But apparently they had, and in the past three years, had waged war against their enemies.

Growing up an orphan, Eden had a lot of experience in sneaking around when she wanted time to herself. With her tactical cloak, she had it down nearly to an art form, and quickly slipped past people unnoticed as she considered the facts:

Cerberus was attacking on too many fronts. No matter how many resources they had, they had to be stretching themselves thin with their simultaneous attacks. But what was the point? If they were trying to create a screen against their true objective, they weren't leaving much to work with. But nothing else seemed to make sense. The Alliance was far too large an organization simply on its own to be worn out by the constant attacks, and with everyone else Cerberus was attacking, they weren't endearing themselves to anyone else.

First things first: where was Cerberus getting all their resources? A quick check on her omnitool revealed what she'd already feared: the Reaper War had left a large vacuum of power, and there was no shortage of scumbags who were willing to fill it up. Cerberus could easily have put opperatives and sympathizers in those positions, generating funds and resources to fuel their nightmares.

But it didn't explain their numbers. With pretty much everyone indoctrinated to the point of mindless slave, they'd need a lot of fresh recruits to come up with the master plans. Not even mentioning those they'd need to run armies, research, espionage...the list was long, and Eden couldn't fathom how they'd managed to fill it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her foot hit something solid. She look up, suddenly realizing she was in the Normandy's main gun battery. Belatedly, she realized it was where she often went to consolidate her thoughts, or discuss things with Garrus. She wasn't sure whether or not she was happy he wasn't there at the time. She wasn't sure how to talk to him about the whole...gone for three years.

Time travel is not what its cracked up to be. She thought grimly. She decided she'd better leave before Garrus showed up and confront him later, when she'd had more time to think things over.

"Well, I guess this is the second time you came back from the dead, Shepard. Are you planning to make a habit of it?" Eden jumped, berating herself for getting too caught up in her own thoughts to have missed the turian coming in behind her.

She took a deep breath, both dreading the conversation, and glad to finally get it off her shoulders. "Well, last time we had three different merc organizations trying to kill us," she said, trying to a lighthearted tone. "I think it turned out a little better this time. Only one guy...with a lot of grenades."

She could hear Garrus sigh behind her. "Spirits Shepard, it's been three years. After the war I'd hoped...but nothing ever happened. Not even a body."

Dammit! She was not going to cry. "I promised I'd be back," she said quietly. She let out a sigh of her own, leaning forward on the gun battery. "I wanted to tell you," she said finally. "I promised myself, as soon as I was healthy, I would convince the Doctor to let me at least leave a message, something...but then everything happened so fast." She sighed again. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Still staring at the gun, she couldn't yet muster the will to face Garrus. "I thought it was only a few months," she said finally. "I would come back, and find nothing much had changed, aside from the Reaper threat being over." Finally mustering her courage, she turned to look at the turian. "Is that selfish of me? Wanting everything to be like it was before?"

Garrus gave a quick laugh. "I'd say that's very human of you," he replied.

Eden managed half a smile, turning back to the gun. "I'm not sure that's a very good thing," she admitted. She could feel the distance between them, almost like a physical object, pushing them apart, and for the life of her, Eden wasn't sure how she could push back. She knew it was the second time this had happened, her coming back from the dead and all. In some ways, this distance was her fault, she decided. If she'd tried just a little harder for the Doctor to let her talk to them...

"Shepard, Commander Williams is looking for you. I would suggest returning to her office."

"Thank you, EDI," Eden responded, not completely sure whether or not she was upset at the interruption. Turning back to Garrus, she asked, "Talk later?"

He sighed, obviously unhappy at the turn of events, and nodded.

As Shepard once more made her way to Ashley's office, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever truely feel like she was home again.

When she reached the office, the door automatically slid open, revealing a tense Ashley sitting behind her desk, Wrex standing off to one side, and the Doctor sitting haphazardly on the other chair, his feet propped up on the desk, eating an apple.

Despite the obvious dire atmosphere, Eden had to swallow a laugh at the comical sight. She couldn't however, stop the astounded blink. "What in the name of sanity do you have on your head, Doctor?"

"It's a fez!" He said indignantly, turning slightly her way, before talking another large bite of the apple.

Ashley waved Eden in. "I just got a report from Admiral Hackett," she said straight away. "The Citadel Relay was mysteriously activated, and something came through. The reports say it was like a giant black cloud that absorbed everything they fired at it, and it barely even slowed. Now I was told from the three of you something was coming, so now I want answers: what the hell was that thing, and how did it manage to wipe out nearly the entire fleet there?"

Everyone turned to look at the Doctor.

He sighed, tossing the apple away, and stood. "It's called an Ur'randur," she said finally.

Shepard blinked. "A what?"

"Galaxy Eater," he simplified, walking a few pacing toward the wall. Turning around so he could face all three of them, he continued, "Ur'randurs are creatures from another world. A world unlike anything you can imagine." As he spoke, he moved his hands, as if to describe things simply by the motions alone. "There's nothing like light there, nothing that we could see, touch, feel, if we were even able to survive entry. It's a world so foreign to our own, simply to touch anything in it would mean death."

"So how come we'd die there, but it seems fine here?" Wrex interrupted.

"Good question!" The Doctor said, turning to face him. "Think of it like a black hole: it draws everything into itself, crushing it with incredible gravity, yet everything that it draws upon makes it stronger. While Ur'randurs don't actually have anywhere near as powerful gravity as a black hole, they operate on the same principle: they consume energy from this world, and that makes it stronger. And we're all pulled along with it."

Ashley crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. "So if it's from 'another world' as you say, then how did it get here?"

The Doctor shrugged, almost as if to say it wasn't a big detail. "Well, lot's of things could have done it. Someone playing with things they don't understand...or with things that they do, but we'd rather they not...ahem. A cataclysmic event, generating intense, raw energy of just the right frequency could have created a temporary rift...there are several other ways as well, and it could even have been simple coincidence. Really, it doesn't matter how it got here. What matters is sending it back."

"...And somehow I get the feeling it won't be that simple," Eden stated, leaning back against the wall.

"Far from simple! See there is an infinite number of worlds out there, and the probability that we'll send it to the wrong one, even if we could figure out how to break the lines between worlds...the possibilities are virtually endless! We'd need something to anchor our 'rift' to, to make sure it goes to the right place, and then there's the problem of actually creating a rift...there's no simple solution."

Eden watched the Doctor pacing as he went through the explanation. There was something about the way he was talking that tugged at something in her mind, but at the moment, it eluded her. "So what does it want?" She finally asked. "Hell, how did it activate the Citadel Relay? It wouldn't have done it if it didn't have a plan."

"Oh it has a plan," the Doctor said darkly. "You wouldn't think it, but Ur'randurs are very, very smart. The only thing that blinds them is their lust for food. You see, they can survive on very little, as food of any kind is very scarce in their own world. But here they can eat everything...it's like a little kid in a candy shop: they want to eat anything they come across. Stars, planets, dark energy, everything is tasty to them.

"The Catalyst figured out what is was, and what it wanted, and it started sending out Reapers to slow it down. But that destroyed many of its own forces, so it sent the Collectors out to begin creating new Reapers. Even then, it must have realized it would have to end the Cycle, since the thousand or more years spent cleaning up every little bit of evidence would take far too long, and by then, the Ur'randur would have found it, and activated the relay. The only chance it had was to try to create a solution to end the war, once and for all."

"I didn't get much of a 'helpful' vibe from the Catalyst," Shepard said dryly.

The Doctor shrugged. "It was programmed a certain way, and it was trying to work against its nature. It could only do so much," he supplied. "In any case, it was too late, and before the Reapers had a chance of returning, the Ur'randur reached the Catalyst, destroyed it, and activated the relay."

"Wait, wasn't the Catalyst on the Citadel?" Ashley asked, all but talking the words out of Shepard's mouth. The Doctor shook his head.

"The Catalyst was in direct communication with the Citadel," he explained. "But it couldn't be stored in such a small space. The machinery that made up the Catalyst was giant, about the size of a small moon."

"So this thing is smart enough to open the Citadel relay. But what does it really want?" Wrex asked, looking a little irritated at the long discussions that hadn't amounted to anything solid that they could do.

"It wants the world," the Doctor said eerily. "For creatures like that, nibbles aren't enough. It's going to keep on feeding off this galaxy until it consumes it, then it will move onto the next, and the next, until there isn't anything left. And then it's going to start nibbling at the edges of the world, until it shatters apart." Taking a deep breath, the Doctor turned back to them. "But it won't die then, no. It will drift in between worlds, until something pops it back in. And then, smaller, weaker than ever, it will be desperate to feed, and the whole cycle will start all over again."

Eden shifted, trying not to imagine what that entitled. "But you have a plan," it was more a statement than a question.

The Doctor nodded, showing just the touch of a smile. "Oh, do I ever."


	4. Chapter 4: More Problems

_Sorry this took so long. Car, illness,_ wedding _...oh, and hopefully the research paper is done. GED, here I come!_

 _However, in the same period of time it took me to get all_ that _finished, I got the idea for a stand-alone novel, so I'm going to be working on that as well. But considering the paper is *hopefully* done, I'll be able to spend more time writing_ this _story._

 _Fun fact of the day: does technology help or hurt learning for children in schooling? According to Leah Fox, in her 2014 Master's Thesis, if the student is a 'digital native', the answer is yes. But nothing helps so much as a mix of technology, 'traditional' methods, and of course, getting the parents involved. This is true for everyone, not just digital natives._

-=]|[=-

"The Ur'randur cannot be killed," the Doctor summerized. "Which means, we have to get rid of it another way."

"But you said creating a...portal, was impossible," Eden said. Some part of her snorted at the irony of believing in time travel, but struggling to believe in different worlds or dimentions.

"No, I said it would be very difficult," he corrected. "But I've been working on the calculations for a very long time. Working with EDI, I believe we can figure out how to create it."

"Wait, I'm confused," Wrex interrupted. "How can calculations tell you where this thing comes from?"

The Doctor hesitated. "We-eell," he began slowly. "It doesn't tell us that. Only how to create one without destroying the galaxy while we're at it."

Ashley choked on some coffee she'd just sipped. "You telling me your hanging everything on the chance you'll figure it out in time, and get the right destination?" She asked incredulously.

"This is ridiculous!" Wrex rumbled angrily. "There must be something you haven't tried. Some way to kill it."

Eden was only half listening to their protests. That nagging feeling of familiarity was back, and as she stared at the Doctor, it suddenly clicked. Of course! It made perfect sense.

For a time traveller, anyway.

"This isn't you're first time here, is it?" She finally asked, only half-questioningly. The other two broke off their protests to give her a surprised look, then turned toward the Doctor, questioningly.

He had stopped pacing, a wry look on his face. Finally, he nodded. "You didn't expect we'd get it right on the first try, did you?" He asked quietly. Eden slowly released a breath she'd been holding. It all made sense: the fact he'd been so withdrawn, putting up a whimsical air - something she knew he did often at his most dangerous - the fact he knew so much about this creature from another world...it explained everything.

Except one tiny fact. "Why me?" She asked. "You've never go back in time to save people, so why the hell did you save me?"

He waved her question away, returning to pacing. "The fact is, we've got no other option. The best we can do is slow it. But if EDI can finish her own calculations, we have a chance."

"So how do we put it back where it came from?" Ashley asked skeptically. The Doctor snorted.

"That's simple," he responded, turning to them. "Just like your DNA says whether your human, or turian, or krogan, or whatever, something inside of each person, in each individual cell of the world is something that says, 'you belong *here*'. We just need to grab one of it's Mirrors, figure out the code, and we've got it!" He turned triumphantly to the three of them.

They stared back, still somewhat lost.

Wrex was the first to break the silence. "Well, what the hell are these Mirrors now?"

To that question, and most others that followed, the Doctor refused to say much, if anything, on. Despite Ashley's and Wrex's badgering, he refused to budge. Something Eden was all to familiar with, and know it was useless, didn't join in.

Finally, Ashley sighed. "You said we can slow it down by attacking it," she said, nodding to the Doctor. "It could give us the time we need to finish these calculations. I need to contact Admiral Hackett," she added. "Doctor, you're coming with me. From now on, you're our first, and only expert on this enemy. Shepard...I don't even know how I'm going to explain you."

Eden shrugged. "Then don't," she said simply. "Offically, I'm dead, and if that's what all our enemies believe, that might give us an advantage."

"She's right," Wrex added. "With how Cerberus keeps poping up all over, we can't trust that information not getting out."

Ashley nodded, taking their advice. "EDI-?" She began.

"I have already blocked all communications from the Normandy until you reached a decision," the AI informed her.

"Good work. Make an anouncement: no word of Shepard being alive is to go beyond this ship." Turning to Eden, she added, "You're going to need a new identity. I'll get Liara on that. She's been meaning to talk to you in any case."

Eden nodded. "I'll see her as soon as possible," she replied.

"Good. Then we've got work to do."

Leaving the meeting, Eden was suddenly torn at what she should do next. She knew she should go talk to Garrus...Liara would understand, but at the same time, talking to Liara would be the perfect excuse to avoid that conversation for a little bit later. Decidedly, she headed for the CIC.

Liara met her before she got there. "Shepard. Ashley said I might find you here."

"Liara," Eden greeted the asari. "I was actually on my way to see you. I hear you've got something to talk to me about?"

"That will come a bit later," Liara responded, inclining her head to the lift. Eden followed, as the asari continued. "EDI has...explained the rather unusual circumstances, though I suspect that for some, that won't be enough. Joker has been ranting." As the doors opened to the CIC, Liara turned to Shepard, and added quietly. "I'd suggest you worry about that first."

...Was that a mischevious light Eden caught in her eyes? Shepard marked it as a definate, as the asari quickly quieted everyone around. Traynor looked up, flashed Eden a smile, and then returned to what she was doing.

It was infectious. Eden snuck through the CIC, towards where the pilot was mid-rant.

"...so we don't even get a postcard, and then all of the sudden, out of the blue, she appears again...that doesn't sound strange to you at all, does it?"

"Not so strange at all. They didn't have postcards in the dark ages," Eden said calmly behind Joker. He jumped, turning to give EDI a glare for not warning him of her presence. EDI calmly continued working pretending she hadn't seen a thing.

"Hello commander. Nice of you to finally drop by," Joker finally said, turning back to his station.

Eden sighed, crossing her arms. Yep. Joker wasn't happy. "I thought EDI already explained the situation, Joker."

"Yeah. You travelled through time in a tiny little box, just managed to heal in three years time, oh and let's not forget showing up at the last minute to save the day. That doesn't sound suspicous at all, does it?" The sarcasm was dripping in his words.

Eden shrugged. "What do you want me to say, 'I'm sorry'?"

Silence.

Eden sighed. "Fine, Joker. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause all these problems, and if I'd had a way to contact you, I would have."

Joker turned the seat around, facing her. "There. See? Was that so hard?"

"Am I going to have to apologize to everyone on the ship?" she asked dryly, eyebrow raised.

"Nope!" Joker said cheerfully. "I had that broadcasted to the entire ship. There might be a few people looking for a personal apology, but I think we've got most everyone covered."

Eden blinked. Then she laughed, shaking her head. "I'm wondering whether I should be upset, or thanking you," she admitted.

"I'd settle for you convicing Ashley to give us shore leave one of these days," Joker responded. "Just not on the Citadel, or we'll probably have another clone trying to steal the ship. Somewhere safer. Like Tuchanka."

"If you had a real shore leave, you wouldn't know what to do with it," Shepard countered him.

"Maybe not," Joker admitted. "But you never know until you try, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Some things are better left alone."

He cackled as he turned back to his station.

Shaking her head, she made her way back to where Liara, Samantha, and Miranda were looking over something. Liara looked up and waved Eden over. Miranda didn't even glance at Shepard as she approached. "Shepard," she said shortly, not even slowing in what she was doing.

"Miranda," Eden responded, wincing inwardly. Obviously, Miranda wasn't satisfied with the current events. But that was a conversation best saved for a later date. "What do we have?" She asked, turning her attention to the present.

Liara gestured to screen in front of them. "Information we've managed to get from Cerberus," she explained. "Considering you've been gone for three years, and have worked with Cerberus before, you might be able to provide a unique perspective."

"We've been tracking down their assets," Traynor explained. "They've been getting funding from a series of private organizations and even some charities, though they work pretty hard to cover their tracks. We haven't been able to track down many of their bases, but even those that we have gotten..." she trailed off, as if not sure how to phrase her next words.

"They have an agressive system," Liara said, picking up for Samantha. "The moment we get close, they start wiping their drives. The data we do get from them is damaged at best. We've been trying to piece things together, but they work to destroy their most precious information first."

"They have to have a central server then," Eden surmized. "Can't EDI track it?"

"The main server is not actually connected to the other bases," EDI supplied. "They send it through alternate sectors, which wipes any trace back to the original source."

"And these alternate sectors?" She asked.

"Have a tenancy to self destruct," Traynor answered. "They're well fortified, and if they pick up anyone inside that shouldn't be there, they'll automatically self-destruct. Obviously, they don't intend for us to find them again."

"We might be able to work something out with the Doctor," Eden promised. "In the meantime, you mentioned you did get some data..."

Samantha nodded, bringing up a file. "Most of it is rather disjointed. Nanotechnology, holograms, communications, they're all trying to do something involving those, but we can't tell what yet."

"What about the black market?" Eden asked.

"Most of it is being done by an outside source," Miranda said stifly, finally breaking her silence. "We're trying to track it, but we've gotten few leads. Yvanstra was one of the few we'd been able to track."

"Yvanstra?" Eden mouthed to the others.

"Aaron Yvanstra. The arms dealer apparently fond of throwing around grenades," Samantha supplied. "He has a rather unpleasant profile, and has at least four minor mercenary organizations who harbor a grudge against him for...various offenses. That was the reason for our method of attack. Things are less likely to explode when they'd don't know we're involved."

"So having a big blue box appearing in the middle wasn't helping very much, was it?"

"We'll see," Liara said, a bit of a laugh in her voice. "I don't think Mr. Yvanstra is going to be willing to admit he saw a box appear in the middle of a firefight, as well as disappearing with too many people to fit, crammed inside."

"I take it that there's more to this than black market deals and obscure research," Shepard prodded.

Liara nodded. "We've found records of the Collector's Plague, though they're badly damaged. We've managed to piece things together, but we're missing a lot."

"We still have Mordin's solution, correct?" Eden asked. The others traded a look.

"...Cerberus has modified the plague," Traynor said slowly. "We can't be certain, but from what EDI's put together, the cure is now obsolete."

It was like a stone had dropped in her stomach. Eden swallowed slowly. "How bad is it?"

"We're still trying to figure that out," Miranda told her, pointing towards a particularly damaged section. "This is what has me most concerned," she said, another screen popping up to enlarge the information.

Shepard squinted at it. "What is it?" She finally asked.

"It's a modification to the virus itself. To it's symptoms."

"That maskes no sense," Eden said, her brows furrowed in thought. "The virus is already fatal, why change it?"

"That's what's so concerning," Miranda answered.

"And they've already tried to release it," Samantha added. "We barely stopped them from doing it on the Citadel."

"And we don't know where they intend to try next, do we?"

The silence was all the answer she needed.


	5. Chapter 5 - Infiltration

"No! Absolutely not!"

Eden folded her arms stubbornly, glaring. After her conversation with the others, she'd gone in search of the Doctor, hoping to get him onboard with the idea of using the Tardis to get what they could from an 'alternate sector'. His response had been less than enthusiastic.

"I've been over this with the lot of you before," he continued. "We're dealing with something trying to destroy reality! Side trips to...to steal a little bit of data is ridiculous!"

"It's not ridiculous!" Eden retorted. "Cerberus is planning something, and whenever they start planning, I start getting concerned. Or did you forget last time, it nearly ended in the extinction of the galaxy?!"

"Why are you worried about the galaxy? We're talking about the whole bloody world! It won't matter what Cerberus is planning if there's nothing left!"

"And what happens if we do save the world, and leave Cerberus to wreak their havoc, only to have it bite us in the ass?" She responded. "Saving the world is good and all, but I'm sure as hell not leaving it in worse shape to do so!"

"Then we can worry about whatever the bloody hell they do after we've stopped the Ur'randur." The tone of the Doctor's voice told Eden that he was not going to budge.

She scowled and stalked away, brooding. If only she could convince him Cerberus was enough of a threat to be dealt with! But that wouldn't happen unless they could get more information. She started to run senarioes through her head.

"I take it things didn't go so well?" A familiar voice surmised. Eden half sighed, half laughed.

"You can say that again," she responded, shaking her head. "I need to get enough data to convince him to help, but I'm not sure how to do it. I just know we're going to regret it if we don't stop Cerberus...whatever they're doing."

Tali shrugged. "You're just restating the problem we've all been dealing with," she told Shepard. "However, I have been working on something that might help. I actually was one my way to Ashley's quarters when your shouting match caught my attention."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Why not?" The quarian laughed. "Come on, I'll tell you about it on the way."

"...So let me get this straight: you've developed something to block the self-destruct signal," Ashley asked, leaning against her desk.

"Only temporarily," Tali corrected her. "I don't know how long it will take for the system to break it down, but I think we'll have about a minute to work."

Ashley slowly let out a breath. "That's not very long."

"Maybe it doesn't need to be," Shepard replied. At Ashley's questioning look, she added, "Tali told me that they scan every person before they even get close. But if they self-destruct whenever they see someone odd, they'd loose a lot of possible recruits."

"So you intend to go after the data yourself," Ashley guessed.

Eden nodded. "Ten to one, they don't scan for people who are dead."

The commander leaned back against her desk, deep in thought. "I don't like it," she finally said. "But I can't think of a better idea. I already tried to convince your friend to help, and he told me no. You're the only other person I'd trust on this.

"But I'm not letting you go in alone," she added. Eden opened her mouth to protest, but Ashley raised a hand, cutting her off. "They'll stay a distance off, and only come in if you need it. But you've already died twice, Shepard, and I don't intend to let you make a habit of it!"

"I only died once!" Eden protested.

"Officially, twice. And that's the way we're going to keep it: no less, no more."

Shepard sighed. "Aye-aye, Commander."

Ashley's eyes glittered with amusement. "And don't you forget it."

Dusk was starting to fall as a figure wound her way up the street towards the nondescript office complex, the name _Kairos Industries_ splayed across the front.

 _"The servers are located on the second floor. You will have to get past security on both floors before you can get there," EDI chimed in Eden's ear._

"Got it," she murmured, absently flicking a lock of hair over her shoulder. The wig was driving her crazy. Who in the world thought long hair was a good idea? It was constantly getting in her way!

As she approached the building, two security guards stepped out. Holding up her card, Eden said, "I'm heading for Stevens & Stevens, Attorneys at Law."

The turian's eyes narrowed. "I haven't seen you around here before," he challenged.

Great. I had to get an intellegent one. "It's...it's a personal matter," she said, putting a hesitant, embarrassed note in her voice. "I had a little too much to drink, and..." she looked away, as if hiding a blush. She coughed in an embarrassed manner. "Well, I'm sure you can guess. Now his wife is suing."

"Well, uh. Go ahead." Obviously uncomfortable to talk about it, the turian stepped aside, motioning for his partner to move. Shepard quickly moved past.

 _"Smooth, commander,"_ Joker told her over the comm.

"I don't like the fact Cerberus is posing as a legitimate business," Eden murmured with a grimace. "These people don't even know the danger they're in. If that bomb goes off..."

 _"I could cause an evacuation if the situation require it,"_ EDI suggested.

"Good idea." Eden headed for the elevator.

On the way up, she twisted her hair into a bun. Better look more professional.

She stepped into a large sitting room, one side opened up to take in the magnificent view through the glass wall. Two hallways on opposite sides of the room veered off beyond her sight, holoscreens saying what businesses could be found in that wing.

"Which company are they posing as?" She asked quietly.

 _"Guardian Security. On your left, two doors down."_

" _Guardian Security?_ Of course," Shepard snorted, heading for the hall.

As she got there, another guard stepped out, halting her again. She caught two more in the doorway behind him. "What's your business here?"

"I heard you were hiring," Eden lied quickly.

"Uh huh," the guard said suspiciously. "Wait here."

He disappeared back inside, and Eden could see him referring to a datapadd. Her hand twitched nervously towards her omnitool, where Tali's hack was waiting.

It was painstakingly long before he opened the door again. "Sorry about the delay, but you never know the types of people we have up here, asking questions."

"Of course," Shepard responded absently. She calmed the nervous flutters in her heart. It was at times like this that she really could use some physic paper.

The moment she stepped inside, her comm went dead. Huh. They had some really sophisticated technology then. And now she had another problem: if they were blocking her comm, then they'd block Tali's signal. She'd have to get to the server before she could activate it.

Of course, that was another problem all on its own. Glancing around, Shepard could see a security guard at every door, several in each room, and even more regularly patrolling. Not to mention the endless security cameras and scanners. She so much as twitched wrong, she'd be dead before she knew it.

"Your security is ridiculous. Even for someone in the business," Eden said, forcing herself to talk conversationally.

"Oh. That's just because the boss is visiting," the security guard said offhandedly.

Now the question was if that was just the excuse they gave to anyone who asked, or if the boss really was there.

"So where are we going?" Better safe to know that before she got herself into a situation she wasn't going to be able to get out of.

"We don't just hire every person who comes in here, saying they've got skill. You've got to go through a combat simulator and physic evaluation."

Eden's stomach dropped. Back when Cerberus had brought her back, she'd been forced to go through that as well. If records were compared...

She might be able to fake it, but that was a big 'if'.

Her eyes caught a well fortified door, three guards standing in front of it. "What's in there?"

"That room is off limits," the guard told her shortly. Gesturing to a nearby room, he added, "We're here."

Eden entered the room, and immediately got an idea. Going through the door into the server room wasn't a great idea - and she was sure it was the server room. It wouldn't be so heavily guarded otherwise - but there was more than one way to skin a cat.

...Or get into a...nevermind.

A huge computer thing stood against the wall directly between her and the server room. She made as if to follow the guard, then whirled, incinerating the paneling, just as she engaged her tactical cloak. Without even slowing, she raced towards the still burning wall, slamming her shoulder against it. She broke through, rolling with the impact, even while she activated Tali's hack.

Looking up, she saw the screen, 0:01 left on the counter. Breathing an uneasy sigh of relief, she got to work. She'd gotten past one obstacle. She activated EDI's program, then flattened herself against the wall, just as the first of the three guards raced in.

With no gun, she was forced to use her omnitool blade. taking down the first guard, she grabbed his gun, shooting the second. The third was smarter, and ducked around the doorframe. By now, the other guards had recovered, and Shepard was facing trouble on two fronts.

Then her omnitool chimed. Fifteen seconds left. She had to go, and go now.

Reactivating her tactical cloak, Eden ran for it. Eleven seconds. She raced into the main lobby. Ten. The door was straight ahead. Nine.

Suddenly, she was thrown across the room, bouncing off the glass window. Pain lanced through her side, and she grunted, turning to face her attacker.

For a moment, her mind refused to acknowledge the familiar features. _Kai Leng._ The assassin grinned, seeing the flash of recognition cross her face. Then he raised his sword.

The window shattered, and Kai Leng reeled back, clutching his arm. Eden's omnitool flashed a warning: three seconds.

The door was no longer an option. Getting her feet under her, Shepard leapt, feeling the wind from the assassin's sword as it just barely miss her. Then she was falling through the air.

She rolled with the impact as she hit the ground, curling up in a ball as the area above her exploded, raining bits of debris all around her. She gritted her teeth as a particularly large piece struck her shoulder, already bruised from her collision with the wall.

She could hear the sound of a shuttle nearing. Then she felt someone grab her arm, and she used the support to get her to her feet. Slowly, they headed back to the shuttle.

Shepard turned back briefly to look at the remains of the _Kairos Industries_ building. There was a large gaping hole there now, at least three floors high. Smoke bellowed out, and fire reigned freely within.

She shivered and turned back, but out of the corner of her eyes, she was sure she could see a figure with a sword watching her.

"Thanks James," Eden grunted as he helped her sit. Glancing up, she saw Garrus and Tali also there, as well as Steve, turned to see if she was alright. She nodded to them, then turned towards Garrus. "That was one hell of shot, Garrus. Thanks."

"Just want to be sure on one thing: was that who I thought it was?" He asked.

Eden nodded. "Kai Leng," she confirmed. Vega whistled slowly.

"We're in trouble," Tali stated, voicing what was on everybody's minds.

When they returned to the Normandy, Shepard was told on no uncertain terms, that she was going to Dr. Chakawas. There, she was told on equally uncertain terms that she was taking bed rest, or else.

Surprisingly, Eden didn't mind. Burns and bruises aside, she finally was able to sit - or lie - down and talk with the doctor. However, they hadn't gotten much farther than the kinds of wine served in sixteenth century England when Liara came in.

"Did you get any useful data?" Eden asked.

"When the self-destruct sequence failed, it server automatically started erasing data," Liara answered. At Shepard's grimace, she added, "We did, however, manage to salvage something: a location."

"What is it?" Eden couldn't hide the excited note in her voice.

"A very familiar one: Sanctuary."

 _A/N: Yes, it might seem like the Doctor has only a small role right now, but that's because he's busy with EDI trying to figure out how to send the Ur'_ ran _dur_ back _where it belongs. In the next few chapters he'll start having a bigger role._


	6. Chapter 6: Resolutions

_Sorry, every time I thought of writing this, it was in the 2-3 hours I had internet, and with everything else, I_ somehow _thought I would finish. And this is the evidence on the contrary. Again, sorry. Hope you enjoy!_

Ashley was buried in reports, her mind elsewhere.

Kai Leng. Sanctuary. She'd thought they'd moved past all that. It had been three years.

She still recalled her conversation with Miranda. "Are you sure you destroyed everything?" She'd asked.

"Yes. I wiped the data, I blew the bloody thing up, Williams. I don't understand why Cerberus is back there. It doesn't make any sense."

And it still didn't. The whole project had been on controlling Reapers. Since the Synthesis Wave, the Reapers had begun adapting. Now anything Cerberus tried to throw their way would probably be broken down before they could blink.

Ashley couldn't suppress the shiver she got when thinking about Reapers. Even after three years, she still could only picture the leviathans as they were during the war. She wasn't the only one: even with this new threat lurking, people had neglected to mention calling on the Reapers for aid. Probably the only reason why people didn't panic anymore was because they kept to the Viper Nebula...or what was left of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Tali. Waving the quarian in, Ashley asked, "What's on your mind?"

"Shepard," Tali answered flatly. "And Garrus." At Ashley's look, she elaborated. "The two of them all but avoid each other, and when they do talk, it's so formal. I thought it was just Shepard, with her return and needing time to settle again, but just earlier, I saw Garrus walk another way simply to avoid her. They aren't talking, and so they aren't healing. Something needs to be done, and soon."

"Suggestions?"

"We-ell, I did consider asking EDI to lock them in the lift..."

Ashley shook her head. "We can't disrupt life on the Normandy just for that. There's enough stubborness between the two of them, we might have to keep it close for a week before they resolve things." She suddenly stopped, an idea forming in her head. "...However, you might be onto something...if we're going to find out what Cerberus is doing at Sanctuary, we're going to need everyone, spread out in teams. I could arrange for the two of them to be together."

"Perfect." Ashley didn't even need to see Tali's face to tell she was grinning slyly. "Will you be the one to tell the happy couple, or shall I?"

"I'll do it tomorrow," Ashley promised. "When everyone gets their orders. Let's not give them time to try to wriggle their way out of it."

"Aye-aye, Commander." Ashley could all but hear Tali cackling behind her words.

Unaware of being one of the subjects in Ashley's and Tali's plotting, Shepard was pacing, her thoughts mirroring Ashley's earlier: Sanctuary. Her mind kept turning over what she knew, again and again, trying to find something she'd missed.

Every lap took her farther and farther, until she found herself wandering into one area, where the Doctor was sitting, deep in thought. "Credit for your thoughts?"

He grunted. "A problem I've always had with that saying: is that a credit for each thought, or for everything you're thinking at once?"

"Easier to give you the credit than to answer that."

He grunted again, this time with a touch of a smile, before going back to his brooding. She sat down next to him, waiting for him to speak again.

"I was there, you know," he finally said, staring into the space in front of him. Eden looked at his curiously.

"Sanctuary?" He nodded.

"An old gal I used to work with, her name was Erin Whitney, well she ended up there. I was busy elsewhere, dealing with some Daleks that thought they could take over the world while everyone else was busy. It wasn't until afterwards that I got her message. It wasn't long...she was never one to say a lot. All it really said was, 'There is something wrong here. I need your help.'

"Well, I got there as quickly as I could, and I found what they were up to. Apparently, so had she, and they didn't take to kindly to that. They were trying to turn her into a hunk when I got there."

He stopped for a moment, turning away, eyes haunted. "I managed to stop them, but the damage was already done. She was half-husk, and the Reapers were trying to use her. She begged me to kill her, you know."

Shepard was silent for a moment. "What did you do?" She finally asked, quietly.

"I knocked her out," he said with a shrug. "Then I dragged her into the Tardis. There's a room in there that absolutely no signal could get through. Then destroyed the scrambler Cerberus was using to protect themselves from the Reapers."

"You were the one who led the Reapers right to them," Eden said, incredulous. The Doctor nodded, and they lapsed into silence for awhile. Eden thought of all the times she'd ever seen the Doctor angry. Only once, back when he'd saved her at the end of the Reaper War. He'd been mad at the Catalyst for all its manipulations, which had cost so many lives. Thinking about the situation with this Erin Whitney, she was able to view it in a new light. A disturbing one: he'd been mad when he got there, and even after everything she'd been through, Eden knew she never, ever wanted to see the Doctor mad again.

"So what happened to her?" She finally asked. "To Erin?"

"I let her out after the Synthesis Wave. She was no longer effected by the Reapers, but...well, she told me that she didn't belong anywhere anymore. She wasn't a human anymore, not really, and all she'd do is remind them of what had happened. And she wasn't a husk either, and she certainly couldn't stand living with the Reapers in the Viper Nebula. So...she left. I don't know where she is now."

He sighed again. "It's funny how we can get so focused on the big picture, we completely miss the other details."

"I'm guilty of that myself," Eden admitted with a rueful laugh. "Did I ever tell you about Kaidan?" She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. Damn, it still hurt to think about him.

The Doctor shook his head, so Eden continued. "He was part of the original Normandy crew, and a close friend of mine. I can't even begin to tell you how many times he saved my life."

She looked away, painful memories resurfacing. Forcing herself to go on, she said, "Over time, our relationship became more. But I was so focused on stopping Saren...It was always, 'after the mission'." She sighed. "Then on Virmire, he sacrificed himself, destroying Saren's base. Even after that, I couldn't really spend time mourning. It's always been like that with me: I get so focused on something, I put everything else aside, even to the danger of myself and others."

They again lapsed into silence, as she reflected for a moment. Wasn't that exactly what she'd done the moment she'd returned to the Normandy? Hell, even when she was working with the Doctor, she was always focused on the future, on whatever danger was coming, and how she had to be prepared for it. Not that she didn't know how to let people do their own work, though. When she was told reality was at stake, she let the Doctor and EDI work on that, while she focused on the more immediate problem: Cerberus. But she'd been willing to put herself, and everyone else at risk to stop them...even jeopardize her relationship with the Doctor. Which, strangely enough, was important to her.

The realization came crashed down on her, and she grimaced. "I've been such an ass," she muttered. Turning to the Doctor, she added, "Sorry about all that. If I'd really stopped and thought about it..."

"Ah, we all do that from time to time," he told her, patting her shoulder. "It helps that you were right: Cerberus is up to no good. Well, more than usual."

"Still not an excuse," Shepard muttered. "If I'd really tried, I'm sure we could have fixed things without me going behind your back." He shrugged, then turned to her.

"Ever hear of the law of stubborness?" Eden shook her head. "Well," the Doctor continued. "It goes like this: when two very stubborn people meet, either one of them out-stubborns the other, or a third party steps in and wacks them on the head a few time, 'til they figure things out."

"That's not a real law!" Eden challenged.

"It is! It really is!" He responded defensively. "You're telling me you've never heard of it before? It's been around for ages! Well...at least three...So," he added, changing the subject. "A girl who hated aliens, now in love with one. That's got to be a good story."

Eden grinned ruefully. "A long one, actually. After what happened with the batarian slavers, I did decided I hated them. I was young, brash, and an idiot, but I was still mourning my family's death. It was Pa...err, Paul, my foster father. He told me to call him Pa. *Ahem*. Anyway, he was the one who knocked some sense into me. He knew when I wouldn't listen to reason, so he'd take me out to the garage, and we'd fight. He taught me three different types of martial arts, boxing, and several other things. He'd let me use up all my anger that way. He was a big guy, but fast. More often than not, I was the one who ended up on the mat.

"After I'd calm down, he'd then take me inside, and give me all sorts of examples of when we humans had done as bad as, or worse than those slavers. As time went on, he also showed me a lot of the wonderful things the batarians had done as well."

Shepard shook her head, smiling ruefully again. "I didn't want to listen. Even when he spoke of his time during the first contact war, I retained the horrors of it, but not how they'd made peace later. I couldn't understand why he was friends with turians."

She was fidgeting again. Eden hadn't talked about her past very often...and most of the people who'd she'd confided in were now dead. Dr. Chakawas was one of the few exceptions. Still, for some reason, it was very easy to talk to the Doctor. She still didn't understand why.

"I still clung onto a lot of my anger when I first joined the Alliance. After a few years, Anderson was the one I was talking to about my issues. I didn't know it at the time, but he and Pa compared notes." She laughed, shaking her head. "I'd thought it strange how often he'd say things like what Pa said. I didn't make the connection until years later.

"Of course, then came the day when I was face to face with a batarian. He'd been running a drug cartel, and people had begun going missing. We'd tracked him down, and I was the one with the gun trained on him. He'd taunted me, tried to goad me into pulling the trigger. I almost did, thinking about revenge. But I guess everything people had been saying to me finally bled through. I just kept him there until the others arrived.

"I later learned he was the bad apple of the family. The rest of his family, after learning what he'd done, started a charity to help those who'd been affected." Finally turning to look back at the Doctor, Eden added, "Years later...after Cerberus brought me back, I'd had a conversation with Anderson. I'd talked about how I wasn't sure whether I could trust my judgement anymore, especially since I was working with Cerberus at the time. In return, he'd reminded me of that day. He told me that had I pulled that trigger, I'd have never been on the Normandy. But I'd proved I could make the right decision, and everything I'd done since then had only helped to strengthen that.

"Of course, I still had...have my issues. Garrus was the one who dragged me away for our first date, and I spent half the time talking about everything I'd learned about Collectors."

The Doctor laughed. "He must have had a lot of patience not to have simply gagged you and be done with it."

Eden blushed, grinning. "I'm not sure how he's put up with me all these years."

"There's something special there, no doubt about it," the Doctor agreed. "And we certainly wouldn't want it all to go to waste, would we?" He turned a penetrating stare on Eden.

"You're right." She admitted. "I've been afraid...no, wait. I've been terrified of trying to mend things, only to make things worse." She sighed. "But they're already getting worse, aren't they?"

"Yeah."

"Well then. I think I'll try to catch him tomorrow, before we head out." Eden tried to force out a merry tone. It fell flat, her stomach fluttering simply at the thought.

The Doctor laughed again. "You humans are so funny," he said. At her icy look, he added. "You can be so brave in the face of impending doom, but so scared when it comes to something like love. Now that I think about it," he added thoughtfully, "aren't we all a little like that?"

"Reaper's can't compare," Eden agreed ruefully.

She stayed and talked with the Doctor awhile, before Ken and Gabby showed up, reminding him of some promise he'd made reguarding the Normandy engines. By that time, it was already getting late, so Eden headed to the corner of Engineering where she'd set up her bed.

But the moment she lay down, she found she couldn't sleep. It was a consistent problem now, she reflected. After spending so much time on the Tardis, she'd grown used to her quiet humming. The soft bed on the other hand...well, she'd managed it for maybe an hour, before dropping a pile of blankets on the floor, and sleeping that way. The Tardis had protested at first, usually by seeing to it that the bed was properly made by the time Eden got there, but after awhile, she seemed to get the idea that Eden wasn't going to accept the bed. After that point, Eden would come back to find the floor properly set up as her bed.

She smiled as she thought about it. She'd quickly realized what the Doctor had said was true: the Tardis was alive. The quiet humming sometimes reminded Shepard just a little of a lullaby...just a few snatches of it.

In contrast, now the thrumming of Normandy's engine sounded just a little too loud, and a little too...mechanical. Not that she'd admit it out loud. Joker would probably be scandalized.

Finally giving up the idea of sleep, Eden threw back her blanket, and headed down to the training deck.

She was surprised to see it already in use. Miranda was throwing biotic energy around, including several maneuvers Eden was unfamiliar with. Not surprising, considering three years. "Mind some company?" She asked.

Miranda grunted, and stopped. "Why not?" She turned to one of the walls. "Can you handle a sword?"

Shepard shrugged. "I took some fencing lessons one of the times we were in England. Still, I never learned the fine points of it," she admitted.

Miranda tossed her a sword, moving into position as Eden caught her's. "Kai Leng?" The former commander guessed.

"Not only," Miranda admitted. "Damn tactical cloaks are getting so good, we sometimes can't see them before they're on us. A gun isn't very practical in close combat."

Eden lunged forward, Miranda parrying, stepping to the side. After blocking two more swings from Shepard, she bounced back to swing at her side. Stepping back and to the right, Shepard blocked the attack, and the two disengaged. "But I don't take you as someone who'd normally be up at this hour practicing," she countered.

"Why not? I'm usually busy during the day." This time, Miranda led the attack, and Eden was forced back several paces. "Your guard is starting to slip," she noted. "Especially on your left side."

"Thanks. But that's an evasion. Something you've been particularly good at since I've arrived." She parried again, then seeing an opening, went for a thrust.

Miranda was lightning quick, knocking it back. "Maybe," she admitted. "But I've been here, working. You've been, wherever. I'm still not sure I completely accept this whole 'time travel' thing."

"So is that it?" Eden blocked a particularly vicious attack from the former Cerberus agent. "You're mad at me because I disappear for three years, then reappear like nothing ever happened?"

"Don't start that!" She leveled another attack at Eden.

"Start what?"

"That...figuring out what's going on with everybody just from a few words they say!"

Shepard swiped aside the other blade, stepping to the side. "Well, if you're not going to tell me..."

"Fine, Shepard." Miranda stepped back a moment, sword at a rest position. "My life was just starting to make sense again. Every since I started working for you, things stopped making sense. I'd worked with Cerberus every since I got away from my father, never questioning what they were doing as bad, and then you came along, and suddenly, I've been working against them, and they're monsters. And when that finally became normal, you showed up again, and threw everything on its head. We mourned, Shepard. We had our lives, and we began living them again, and then you just bloody well showed up again, and everything gets put on hold again, and you never once act like there's anything wrong with it! Because the truth is, Shepard, nothing around you makes any sense!"

She turned and stalked away a moment, regaining her temper. Quietly, Eden asked, "When has life ever made sense, Miranda? Five years ago, I was just another member of the Alliance, now people are saying I won the Reaper War. We all once had lives that made sense, but nothing like that ever lasts."

The former Cerberus agent sighed, her shoulder sagging. "I'm planning to retire, Shepard." She finally said.

Eden leaned back against the wall and waited for Miranda to continue. It took awhile, as the former agent gathered her thoughts, uncomfortable with speaking about it out loud. "Oriana has been working with the refugees, she's created a home for the orphans of the war. They've run into some trouble in the past, and she's hired a few people I trust...but it would be easier if someone was there full time. Aaa...and..." she sighed. "I'm tired of all this running around. I don't know how to deal with children, but...I'm willing to give it a try. Oriana thinks I'll do fine."

"When?" Shepard asked.

"At the end of what was our current mission, before this...galaxy eater showed up," Miranda said wryly.

"Have you told the others?"

Miranda shrugged again. "I haven't gotten around to it yet." Turning to face the former commander, she admitted, "I suppose that's really why I was upset with you, Shepard. I've become...used to, I guess, a lot of the crazy things that happen around you, showing up in a big blue box would just be another thing to take in stride. But I knew as soon as I saw you that my life was changing again, and...I guess I liked where it's been headed."

Walking over to Miranda, Eden placed her hand on the former agent's shoulder. "Nothing is going to change, Miranda. We'll stop Cerberus, end this eater's threat, and you can retire, and live your life as you see fit."

Miranda laughed bitterly. "And how many years will that take?"

Shepard couldn't help but smile. "We've got a time machine, remember?"

"I'll believe it when I see it," she told her. But the tightness around her eyes had faded, and she wasn't standing with the same agressive posture as before. They stepped back, and Miranda raised her sword again. "Shall we do another round?"

Eden raised her own. "Why not? Heaven knows, I could use the practice."


	7. Chapter 7: Sancuary

_New chapter, new operating system! Hopefully without Windows crashing on me all the time, I'll be faster at this. *Snorts*_

The next morning, bright and early, they gathered to discuss the current looming problem: _Sanctuary._

A 3D map of the facility was spread out in front of them, different sections color coded to where the teams would be searching.

"We'll split into teams of two," Ashley continued, after briefing them on the rest. "Doctor, you and I will be team one. Shepard, you and Garrus take team two," both figures become a little bug-eyed at her statement, and Shepard made a half strangled sound. "Liara and James, Tali and Kasumi..." she continued to tally off teams, finishing by adding, "...you know your assignments, people; good luck. We'll be using the Tardis to come in under the radar. The Doctor has assured me it is _completely_ safe." As in, not spitting sparks, he'd told her quite gleefully. "You have five minutes to prepare. Dismissed."

As she turned to head out, Tali caught up to her. "Do you think it'll work?" She asked innocently, inclining her head to the Shepard and Garrus, both who'd rushed to get out as soon as possible.

"It better," Ashley muttered. "Otherwise I _will_ have EDI lock them in the lift, and everyone will be stuck using the service tunnels for a week."

Eden _had_ been planning to talk to Garrus that morning. She _had_. But...she was just going to do it later. _After_ the butterflies had settled a little. Ashley's less-than-innocent match-making _could_ have been done without. Perfectly.

That was how her thoughts were going, after being dropped off by the Tardis on the western side of the now blackened remains of Sanctuary. She looked around, thinking of something to say.

"Umm...It's a nice day today," she tried in a miserable attempt at light tone.

"Not bad," Garrus said, looking everywhere but the small woman next to him.

They lapsed into silence.

Eden cleared her throat, trying to turn to the task at hand. "So...Sanctuary. What do you think they're up to?"

"It could be a distraction," Garrus noted. "They might have decided we'd been getting too close, and set this up as a...what is it you humans call it? A 'red herring'?"

"But if this was a distraction, wouldn't it make more sense to pick somewhere more logical?" She inquired. "Sending us to Illium, and having us turn the planet upside-down looking for their base, _that_ would be a good distraction. There's nothing here at Sanctuary anymore. Nothing of use, anyway..." She punctuated her words by glancing around the blackened remains. Miranda had done a _marvelous_ job of blowing it up.

"Then why have it in their server?" Garrus countered. "Either they're hiding something here, or they think we'd be distracted by it. The location might not make sense, but if it _is_ a trap, it can't be _that_ bad of an idea...if we're here."

"True."

Again, they lapsed into silence. A very uncomfortable silence, punctuated by random clearing of the throat, and both trying their very best to look elsewhere.

They climbed over rubble, heading deeper into what remained of the facility. "Soo..." Eden began after awhile. "Um..." She sighed. "I'm just trying to find something to say to break this awkward silence."

"Well, you were talking about how things were _really_ messed up, last time we talked," Garrus suggested.

"That was the last time we talked?" Eden asked.

"Yeah."

"...That was four days ago, right?"

 _"Yeah._ "

She sighed again, feeling miserable. "I'm sorry, Garrus. I'm just really bad at this... _relationship_ thing."

"Never crossed my mind," the turian said sarcastically.

"I'm..." she struggled to find the words. "I'm not used to working to keep a relationship going," she admitted. "I can't even seem to get one to start properly," she added ruefully.

"Being almost bodily dragged to dinner isn't a human tradition?"

"I wasn't almost bodily dragged!" Shepard protested. "I was...actually, _tricked_. I believe you had Joker tell me you'd found something very important, and needed me down there, asap."

"Well, not _exactly_ ," Garrus acknowledge. "Besides, you didn't think it was important?"

"It was! I was just... _thinking_ about Collectors at that time," Eden admitted.

"Yes. And you spent half the dinner talking about them."

Shepard colored. "I did, didn't I?" They walked for a moment in silence. "I really _am_ bad with this whole relationship thing." She declared.

"Well, there's always time to get better at it," Garrus suggested.

"You really think I can?" Eden snorted. "I haven't exactly had a lifetime of making good connections."

"No? And what would you call everyone who joined you to stop the Reapers?" He pressed.

"That wasn't because of me. It was stopping the Reapers."

Garrus snorted. "You _are_ bad at this whole relationship thing, can't tell when people follow you out of duty, or out of a sense of loyalty."

"I haven't _done_ anything to deserve loyalty!" Shepard disagreed hotly. "I've just had a bunch of stuff happen to me and survived to tell the tale! They could have as easily followed... _Blasto!_ " She picked the ridiculous 'jellyfish' who'd she'd met through that incident with Javik.

Sluggard _._ The _Reaper._ Who _wrote_ those scripts?

"And Blaso would have had the diplomacy to get a krogan, a turian, a human to didn't like aliens, a quarian, and the daughter of our enemy to work together without killing each other? And that was _before_ things got complicated."

" _Well..._ "

" _And,_ " Garrus rode ruthlessly over, "managed to turn a completely loyal Cerberus agent, got Liara and Javik working together...well, as well as they'd be likely to anyway."

"Alright, so Blasto wasn't a good comparison," Eden admitted. "But... _you_ could do that!"

"Who do you think I learned it from?" He countered.

Shepard opened her mouth to argue...then stopped. Had he? "But...how come I so bad at this relationship stuff?" She finally asked hopelessly.

Garrus gave her a pointed look. "You're good at talking to other people, Shepard. You listen, and you understand, but for yourself...you keep it all inside. You close yourself off to everyone else."

"Do I?" She thought about it. She had become so very good at hiding her feeling, locking herself away...it helped in combat situations, where keeping a clear head was critical. But had she gone so far, she'd lost _how_ to be more than just a leader?

No, she hadn't lost it. She remembered conversations with the Doctor, where she'd actually done more than just _talk_. Which was strange, considering how she'd known him for so short a time. Somehow, he'd been able to draw her out. The question was _how_ , and how could she force herself to do it?

That would come with time, she knew, _if_ she actually made the effort. Making up her mind, she took a deep breath. "I do have trouble with that," she admitted. Looking up at the turian at her side, she added. "But I'm not willing to lose you because of that. These past few months have been like hell, like I've been thrown adrift, no anchor. You've pretty much _been_ my anchor, Garrus," she added, realizing the truth of that statement. "All too often I could have gone over the deep end; with Cerberus, the war...seeing Earth burning was..." she shook her head, unable to put words to the feeling. "Through it all, you were the only thing that kept me sane, kept me from losing myself in the war.

"At times, it felt like I'd lost everything. I almost did. But I don't want to lose _you,_ Garrus. No matter what happens, I don't want to lose _this_."

Garrus chuckled. "I think that's the first time in a long time I've heard you speak more than just your mind, Shepard."

"Eden," she said decidedly. It'd been a long time since she'd let anyone call her that. The memories of her family _still_ brought tears to her eyes. Her eyes passed over the ruins, and the weight of what they were attempting once again came down on her. "Do you think we _can_ fix all this?" She asked softly. Extinction was one thing. Mass...nothingness? Tried too many times to count to fix, and every time failed? It seemed unreal.

"Well, we have a time machine," Garrus reminded her. "If nothing else, we'll bludeon our younger-selves into shape."

"Crossing your own timeline is very dangerous," Eden said automatically.

"We'll figure something out."

The heat was terrible. Ashley stared up at the sun, wich was beating down mercilessly since they'd arrived. She and the Doctor were walking through the pool area that had led into the underground Cerberus lair, now mostly bare to the sun.

"So, you think they've had enough time to dicuss things?" The Doctor asked innocently, not looking the least bit uncomfortable, despite his long sleeves.

Ashley started guiltily. She'd been wondering the same thing. "Are you playing matchmaker now, Doctor?"

"Weeell, I've never tried it before...not like this, anyway. But isn't it _fun_?" He put his hands in his pockets and started whistling a merry tune, then stopped. "It _should_ have been enough time," he mused. "Although, being stubborn and all...eh, we'll say it's been long enough," he decided, aparently having an internal arguement. "B'sides, everyone else is probably sick of turning over all the useless rubble, I say it'd be time to get back to the _Normandy_ , wouldn't you agree?"

"We can't leave until we're sure nothing is here," Ashley countered. "Unless you knew this was a diversion all along..." she began dangerously.

The Doctor gave her a look. "I'd hardly waste time at a time like this...well that was nearly redundant. Anyway, figured I'd give the kids a little time to work things out, and then..." he flicked his sonic out of his coat, in one motion flipping it, and aimed it at a spot of the ground. The whole area slid aside, and opened up, a small cylindrical tube of some sort popping out.

"How-how did you _know_?" Ashley asked, kneeling down to inspect the device.

"Eh, it was giving out an bio-" the Doctor stopped and glanced sidelong at Ashley's look of strained patience. He cleared his throat and simplified. "I recognized its energy signature. We've walked over it...say, eight times already, but it's rather small, hard to trace. EDI probably could have found it eventually, if she knew what she was looking for, but my sonic picks up on all sorts of strange signals, things that don't belong, and right now, it's saying that something is very _very_ -oh." He cut his monologue short, as he suddenly turned on his heel to look skyward. "Well, that's not good."

Ashley followed his gaze. "We've got a storm coming in," she agknowledged. "It'll certainly cool things down a bit..."

"That's not a storm," the Doctor interrupted. "That's much, _much_ worse than a storm. Hold on, got to download this..." he turned to the cylindrical device and activated his sonic again. "Comeoncomeon," he muttered.

"Doctor, what is going on?" Ashley demanded.

"It's the Ur' _ra_ ndur! It either followed us here, or we're in it's path, whatever it is, we've got to go, and go now!" Turning, he grabbed Ashley's hand, and dragged her as he ran for the Tardis.

"I can walk by myself!" Ashley ground out, but was unable to pull her hand free, and she half ran, half stumbled into the awaiting Tardis. The Doctor rushed to the console, pulling levers and flipping switchs. Ashley turned to her comm. "EDI! Tell everyone we're evacuating imediently!" Damn! She missed having the _Normandy_ nearby to warn her of dangers like that. But her beloved ship was in the Omega Nebula, too far away to help. Ashley realized then and there, that she was completely relying on the Doctor to get them out safely. _Shepard better be right about this guy_.

As the last two people ran inside the Tardis, Ashley could see the sky had turned almost completely black. "What about the colonists?" She started to ask, but then something threw the Tardis doors open, all shadowly and black, and vaguely humanoid in shape. It screeched an eerie, unworldly sound, and charged straight at them. Without hesitation, Ashley had her shotgun out, and over the Doctor's protests, fired three bursts straight at the creature.

It didn't even slow as it tore across the room, the Doctor just managing to dodge out of its way. Miranda threw biotic energy at it, and it flew back a few steps, before deciding she was the new target, and rushing at her with supernatural speed. With a new move Shepard hadn't seen before, Miranda blurred aside, at it crashed into the wall, throwing up more sparks.

"Oh, this again," Wrex grumbled. It had already tore itself free, launching itself after the former Cerberus agent again. The krogan gave a roar and ran straight at it, pushing it back several feet, its arms and legs scraping across the ground, tearing more up.

"Doctor, we need to get away, now!" Eden could already see more racing towards the ship. The first was already back on its feet, its arms and fingers now enlongated into claws. As it paused a moment, Shepard could see something beneath the twisting black clouds. But before she could get a good glimpse, it suddenly move to charge Wrex. The krogan didn't bother getting too concerned, and simply gave it a big kick. Unable to hold its balance, the creature tottered over the edge, fell several feet, and got back up, running after them. But by that point, the Doctor gave a happy shout, pulled a lever, and the whole ship shook, tossing everyone but the Doctor from his feet.

A moment later, the shaking stopped, and Shepard, who'd by instict grabbed the railing, was first to pull herself to her feet, and so was the first to see from the still open doors, Horizon disappear under the shadow of the Galaxy Eater, which calmly moved on, leaving no trail of the planet in its wake.


End file.
